𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄 - j. grace, ocxoc ¹ ✓

xxix. catching feels like butterflies !

XXIX.      KAORI OKAYAMA   !
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catching feels like butterflies

"Jason!" Kaori kept calling his name as she held him, starting to lose hope. He'd been unconscious for two minutes now. His body was steaming, his eyes rolled back in his head. She couldn't tell if he was even breathing. Kaen tried to get her away from his body but for once, she was stronger. She stayed right at her spot next to him.

"It's no use, child." Hera stood over them in her simple black robes and shawl.

Kaori hadn't seen the goddess go nuclear. Thankfully she'd closed her eyes, but she could see the aftereffects. Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before—still ruins, but with no evidence that they'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres.

Even the Hunters had been revived. Most waited at a respectful distance in the meadow, but Thalia knelt by Kaori's side, her hand on Jason's forehead.

Thalia glared up at the goddess. "This is your fault. Do something!"

"Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen—"

"Fix him!"

Hera's eyes flickered with power. "I did warn him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told them to close their eyes before I revealed my true form."

"Um . . . " Leo frowned. "True form is bad, right? So why did you do it?"

"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."

"But mortals can't look upon you in that form!" Thalia shouted."You've killed him!"

Leo shook his head in dismay. "That's what our prophecy meant. Death unleash, through Hera's rage. Come on, lady. You're a goddess. Do some voodoo magic on him! Bring him back."

Kaori half heard their conversation, but mostly she was focused on Jason's face. "He's breathing!" she announced.

"Impossible," Hera said. "I wish it were true, child, but no mortal has ever—"

"Leave her alone!" Delilah glared at the goddess. She kneeled down next to Kaen and placed a gentle hand on Kaori's knee. "Kai, you have to—"

"C'mon Jason," Kaori didn't have charmspeak like Piper and Delilah, but she hoped her voice — accented and weak from using all her energy with her magic — was enough. She felt tears trickle in her eyes. "Come back, please. You're going to be okay."

Nothing happened. Had she imagined his breath stirring?

"Healing is not a power you possess outside of plants," Hera said regretfully. "Even I cannot fix this, girl. His mortal spirit—"

"I do," Kaori gasped as she remembered the vial. The green vial that she knew Kaen held in his pocket. "Vial! The vial, Kaen!"

Kaen was so stunned he hardly remembered about the vial. He struggled to get it out of his pocket but when he did, Kaori took it out of her hands. No mortar and pestle, that's fine. She grabbed two rocks, one coincidentally in the shape of a small bowl and perfect for what she was about to do. Out of her hands Kaori made several types of flowers appear and drop into the rock. At last she opened the vial of green liquid and used the smaller rock to create a darker green liquid.